Brazil’s environment calls for help!

Jair Bolsonaro’s victory is likely to further reduce investments in several of Brazil’s strategic sectors, such as education and other important departments concerning the development of the nation and the quality of life of Brazilians, as these are not the priority issues for his government (Editorial 2018). The prioritization and maintenance of existing investments in strategic institutions, particularly in Brazilian universities, is important to promote the development of the nation, because almost all research produced in the country is performed in these institutions (ABC 2019). Such research includes the studies aimed, for example, at preserving the environment and combating the use of pesticides. The reduction in financial resources allocated to the two federal environmental agencies, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), is of particular significance when considering environmental issues. It should be considered a threat to nature, and especially to the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, which has been affected by deforestation and biodiversity decline for years. Many Brazilian scientists estimate that almost 7,000 km2 of the Amazon had been deforested by 2017 (Tollefson 2018), which can further increase deforestation in this region, as it happened in 2019. That is, according to the data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE 2019), deforestation in the Amazon region due to fires and the acceleration of mining activities increased by 29.54% in 2019, a significant rise compared to 2018 (Brazilian National Institute for Space Research 2019). Natural resources and ecosystems in Brazil continue to disappear, and getting support from the universities, development agencies, research institutes and indigenous communities at this time is of crucial importance

Being a professor and researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ser professor(a) e pesquisador(a) durante a pandemia da COVID-19 Com a pandemia da COVID-19 e a necessidade de seguir protocolos de saúde baseados nas diretrizes da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), a maioria dos professores e pesquisadores começaram a conduzir suas atividades no formato “home office”. Entretanto, esses profissionais começaram a desenvolver as suas atividades em um espaço de trabalho muitas vezes improvisado - muitos deles tendo também que conciliar a vida pessoal, como cuidar de filhos, bem como outras tarefas, como as domésticas. Além disso, observou-se um declínio no desempenho dos estudantes com o ensino remoto, uma vez que a duração das aulas foi reduzida e eles não tiveram acesso a laboratórios para aulas práticas, por exemplo. Em nossa opinião, essas novas experiências mudaram significativamente nossas rotinas, nossa relação com o trabalho, nossa vida profissional, pessoal e interpessoal, e acreditamos que essas mudanças serão irreversíveis. Palavras-chave: covid-19, ensino remoto, problemas de saúde.   Being a professor and researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic ABSTRACT. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need to follow health protocols based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, most teachers and researchers started conducting teaching and research activities at their “home office”. Meanwhile, these professionals began to develop their activities in an often-improvised workspace - many of them have also been caring for their children and doing household chores. We have even observed a decline in student performance with remote teaching, as class duration reduced and students lacked access to laboratories for practical classes. In our view, if the Brazilian government does not invest in improving the quality of remote education and internet access for the population amid the ongoing pandemic, an increasing number of teachers and researchers will develop irreversible health problems due to the precariousness of remote teaching and work. Keywords: covid-19, remote learning, health problems.   Ser profesor e investigador durante la pandemia de COVID-19 RESUMEN. A raíz del brote de COVID-19 y de la necesidad de seguir los protocolos sanitarios basados en las directrices de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la mayoría de los profesores e investigadores han empezado a realizar sus actividades docentes y de investigación en su "despacho". Mientras tanto, los investigadores y profesores universitarios han empezado a desarrollar sus actividades en un espacio de trabajo a menudo improvisado; muchos de ellos también han estado cuidando de sus hijos y realizando tareas domésticas. Además, se observó un descenso en el rendimiento de los estudiantes con la enseñanza a distancia, ya que se redujo la duración de las clases y no tuvieron acceso a la mayoría de los laboratorios, por ejemplo. En nuestra opinión, si el gobierno brasileño no invierte en mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza a distancia y el acceso a Internet de la población en medio de la pandemia en curso, un número creciente de profesores e investigadores desarrollará problemas de salud irreversibles debido a la precariedad de la enseñanza y el trabajo a distancia. Palabras clave: covid-19, educación a distancia, problemas de salud.Ser professor(a) e pesquisador(a) durante a pandemia da COVID-19 Com a pandemia da COVID-19 e a necessidade de seguir protocolos de saúde baseados nas diretrizes da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), a maioria dos professores e pesquisadores começaram a conduzir suas atividades no formato “home office”. Entretanto, esses profissionais começaram a desenvolver as suas atividades em um espaço de trabalho muitas vezes improvisado - muitos deles tendo também que conciliar a vida pessoal, como cuidar de filhos, bem como outras tarefas, como as domésticas. Além disso, observou-se um declínio no desempenho dos estudantes com o ensino remoto, uma vez que a duração das aulas foi reduzida e eles não tiveram acesso a laboratórios para aulas práticas, por exemplo. Em nossa opinião, essas novas experiências mudaram significativamente nossas rotinas, nossa relação com o trabalho, nossa vida profissional, pessoal e interpessoal, e acreditamos que essas mudanças serão irreversíveis. Palavras-chave: covid-19, ensino remoto, problemas de saúde.   Being a professor and researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic ABSTRACT. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need to follow health protocols based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, most teachers and researchers started conducting teaching and research activities at their “home office”. Meanwhile, these professionals began to develop their activities in an often-improvised workspace - many of them have also been caring for their children and doing household chores. We have even observed a decline in student performance with remote teaching, as class duration reduced and students lacked access to laboratories for practical classes. In our view, if the Brazilian government does not invest in improving the quality of remote education and internet access for the population amid the ongoing pandemic, an increasing number of teachers and researchers will develop irreversible health problems due to the precariousness of remote teaching and work. Keywords: covid-19, remote learning, health problems.   Ser profesor e investigador durante la pandemia de COVID-19 RESUMEN. A raíz del brote de COVID-19 y de la necesidad de seguir los protocolos sanitarios basados en las directrices de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la mayoría de los profesores e investigadores han empezado a realizar sus actividades docentes y de investigación en su "despacho". Mientras tanto, los investigadores y profesores universitarios han empezado a desarrollar sus actividades en un espacio de trabajo a menudo improvisado; muchos de ellos también han estado cuidando de sus hijos y realizando tareas domésticas. Además, se observó un descenso en el rendimiento de los estudiantes con la enseñanza a distancia, ya que se redujo la duración de las clases y no tuvieron acceso a la mayoría de los laboratorios, por ejemplo. En nuestra opinión, si el gobierno brasileño no invierte en mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza a distancia y el acceso a Internet de la población en medio de la pandemia en curso, un número creciente de profesores e investigadores desarrollará problemas de salud irreversibles debido a la precariedad de la enseñanza y el trabajo a distancia. Palabras clave: covid-19, educación a distancia, problemas de salud.Ser professor(a) e pesquisador(a) durante a pandemia da COVID-19 Com a pandemia da COVID-19 e a necessidade de seguir protocolos de saúde baseados nas diretrizes da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), a maioria dos professores e pesquisadores começaram a conduzir suas atividades no formato “home office”. Entretanto, esses profissionais começaram a desenvolver as suas atividades em um espaço de trabalho muitas vezes improvisado - muitos deles tendo também que conciliar a vida pessoal, como cuidar de filhos, bem como outras tarefas, como as domésticas. Além disso, observou-se um declínio no desempenho dos estudantes com o ensino remoto, uma vez que a duração das aulas foi reduzida e eles não tiveram acesso a laboratórios para aulas práticas, por exemplo. Em nossa opinião, essas novas experiências mudaram significativamente nossas rotinas, nossa relação com o trabalho, nossa vida profissional, pessoal e interpessoal, e acreditamos que essas mudanças serão irreversíveis. Palavras-chave: covid-19, ensino remoto, problemas de saúde.   Being a professor and researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic ABSTRACT. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need to follow health protocols based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, most teachers and researchers started conducting teaching and research activities at their “home office”. Meanwhile, these professionals began to develop their activities in an often-improvised workspace - many of them have also been caring for their children and doing household chores. We have even observed a decline in student performance with remote teaching, as class duration reduced and students lacked access to laboratories for practical classes. In our view, if the Brazilian government does not invest in improving the quality of remote education and internet access for the population amid the ongoing pandemic, an increasing number of teachers and researchers will develop irreversible health problems due to the precariousness of remote teaching and work. Keywords: covid-19, remote learning, health problems.   Ser profesor e investigador durante la pandemia de COVID-19 RESUMEN. A raíz del brote de COVID-19 y de la necesidad de seguir los protocolos sanitarios basados en las directrices de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la mayoría de los profesores e investigadores han empezado a realizar sus actividades docentes y de investigación en su "despacho". Mientras tanto, los investigadores y profesores universitarios han empezado a desarrollar sus actividades en un espacio de trabajo a menudo improvisado; muchos de ellos también han estado cuidando de sus hijos y realizando tareas domésticas. Además, se observó un descenso en el rendimiento de los estudiantes con la enseñanza a distancia, ya que se redujo la duración de las clases y no tuvieron acceso a la mayoría de los laboratorios, por ejemplo. En nuestra opinión, si el gobierno brasileño no invierte en mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza a distancia y el acceso a Internet de la población en medio de la pandemia en curso, un número creciente de profesores e investigadores desarrollará problemas de salud irreversibles debido a la precariedad de la enseñanza y el trabajo a distancia. Palabras clave: covid-19, educación a distancia, problemas de salud.Ser professor(a) e pesquisador(a) durante a pandemia da COVID-19 Com a pandemia da COVID-19 e a necessidade de seguir protocolos de saúde baseados nas diretrizes da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), a maioria dos professores e pesquisadores começaram a conduzir suas atividades no formato “home office”. Entretanto, esses profissionais começaram a desenvolver as suas atividades em um espaço de trabalho muitas vezes improvisado - muitos deles tendo também que conciliar a vida pessoal, como cuidar de filhos, bem como outras tarefas, como as domésticas. Além disso, observou-se um declínio no desempenho dos estudantes com o ensino remoto, uma vez que a duração das aulas foi reduzida e eles não tiveram acesso a laboratórios para aulas práticas, por exemplo. Em nossa opinião, essas novas experiências mudaram significativamente nossas rotinas, nossa relação com o trabalho, nossa vida profissional, pessoal e interpessoal, e acreditamos que essas mudanças serão irreversíveis. Palavras-chave: covid-19, ensino remoto, problemas de saúde.   Being a professor and researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic ABSTRACT. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need to follow health protocols based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, most teachers and researchers started conducting teaching and research activities at their “home office”. Meanwhile, these professionals began to develop their activities in an often-improvised workspace - many of them have also been caring for their children and doing household chores. We have even observed a decline in student performance with remote teaching, as class duration reduced and students lacked access to laboratories for practical classes. In our view, if the Brazilian government does not invest in improving the quality of remote education and internet access for the population amid the ongoing pandemic, an increasing number of teachers and researchers will develop irreversible health problems due to the precariousness of remote teaching and work. Keywords: covid-19, remote learning, health problems.   Ser profesor e investigador durante la pandemia de COVID-19 RESUMEN. A raíz del brote de COVID-19 y de la necesidad de seguir los protocolos sanitarios basados en las directrices de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la mayoría de los profesores e investigadores han empezado a realizar sus actividades docentes y de investigación en su "despacho". Mientras tanto, los investigadores y profesores universitarios han empezado a desarrollar sus actividades en un espacio de trabajo a menudo improvisado; muchos de ellos también han estado cuidando de sus hijos y realizando tareas domésticas. Además, se observó un descenso en el rendimiento de los estudiantes con la enseñanza a distancia, ya que se redujo la duración de las clases y no tuvieron acceso a la mayoría de los laboratorios, por ejemplo. En nuestra opinión, si el gobierno brasileño no invierte en mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza a distancia y el acceso a Internet de la población en medio de la pandemia en curso, un número creciente de profesores e investigadores desarrollará problemas de salud irreversibles debido a la precariedad de la enseñanza y el trabajo a distancia. Palabras clave: covid-19, educación a distancia, problemas de salud.Ser professor(a) e pesquisador(a) durante a pandemia da COVID-19 Com a pandemia da COVID-19 e a necessidade de seguir protocolos de saúde baseados nas diretrizes da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), a maioria dos professores e pesquisadores começaram a conduzir suas atividades no formato “home office”. Entretanto, esses profissionais começaram a desenvolver as suas atividades em um espaço de trabalho muitas vezes improvisado - muitos deles tendo também que conciliar a vida pessoal, como cuidar de filhos, bem como outras tarefas, como as domésticas. Além disso, observou-se um declínio no desempenho dos estudantes com o ensino remoto, uma vez que a duração das aulas foi reduzida e eles não tiveram acesso a laboratórios para aulas práticas, por exemplo. Em nossa opinião, essas novas experiências mudaram significativamente nossas rotinas, nossa relação com o trabalho, nossa vida profissional, pessoal e interpessoal, e acreditamos que essas mudanças serão irreversíveis. Palavras-chave: covid-19, ensino remoto, problemas de saúde.   Being a professor and researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic ABSTRACT. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need to follow health protocols based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, most teachers and researchers started conducting teaching and research activities at their “home office”. Meanwhile, these professionals began to develop their activities in an often-improvised workspace - many of them have also been caring for their children and doing household chores. We have even observed a decline in student performance with remote teaching, as class duration reduced and students lacked access to laboratories for practical classes. In our view, if the Brazilian government does not invest in improving the quality of remote education and internet access for the population amid the ongoing pandemic, an increasing number of teachers and researchers will develop irreversible health problems due to the precariousness of remote teaching and work. Keywords: covid-19, remote learning, health problems.   Ser profesor e investigador durante la pandemia de COVID-19 RESUMEN. A raíz del brote de COVID-19 y de la necesidad de seguir los protocolos sanitarios basados en las directrices de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la mayoría de los profesores e investigadores han empezado a realizar sus actividades docentes y de investigación en su "despacho". Mientras tanto, los investigadores y profesores universitarios han empezado a desarrollar sus actividades en un espacio de trabajo a menudo improvisado; muchos de ellos también han estado cuidando de sus hijos y realizando tareas domésticas. Además, se observó un descenso en el rendimiento de los estudiantes con la enseñanza a distancia, ya que se redujo la duración de las clases y no tuvieron acceso a la mayoría de los laboratorios, por ejemplo. En nuestra opinión, si el gobierno brasileño no invierte en mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza a distancia y el acceso a Internet de la población en medio de la pandemia en curso, un número creciente de profesores e investigadores desarrollará problemas de salud irreversibles debido a la precariedad de la enseñanza y el trabajo a distancia. Palabras clave: covid-19, educación a distancia, problemas de salud

Agronomic Engineering students’ perceptions about agroecology: a case study at a public university in Tocantins

The present study approaches the perceptions about agroecology of 30 university students from the 2nd and 8th periods of the Agronomic Engineering course at the State University of Tocantins. In order to collect the data, the students answered a questionnaire consisting of nineteen questions with multiple choices, but some questions were asked for justifications. The answers given to the closed questions of this qualitative-qualitative research were categorized in percentages and the open questions by the technique of content analysis. A significant portion of the students said their family members own rural property. Still, the students of the two periods mentioned that they have already heard about agroecology and conceptualized as an agriculture that uses less aggressive means to the environment. A sgnificant portion is unaware of agroecological rural producers in Tocantins. However, for most of the 8th period students, future farming will be based on the agroecology principles, while the 2nd period students believe it will be fully technized. In addition, most of the students expressed interest in participating in research and/or extension projects in this area; since they know about sustainable food production practices and have already consumed some agroecological product. However, a great amount of students is unaware of the environmental service concept and believes that soy monoculture is a financially good initiative and environmentally poor

NEW RECORD OF THE OCCURRENCE OF THE BIRDS Ognorhynchus ictero-tis (PSITTACIDAE) AND Atlapetes fuscoolivaceus (PASSEREL-LIDAE) TO THE EASTERN ANDES OF COLOMBIA: LOCAL THREATS AND IM-PLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION

Apresentamos novos registros de ocorrência para duas espécies de aves ameaçadas, Ognorhynchus icterotis e Atlapetes fuscoolivaceus da bacia do rio Cabrera, noroeste do Departamento de Huila na Colômbia. Também descrevemos algumas observações sobre seu comportamento, hábitat e as ameaças sofridas por essas espécies nessa localidade. As espécies foram encontradas em uma paisagem de florestas sub-andina e andina, entre 1500 e 2600 m de altitude, ampliando dessa forma a área de distribuição de A. fuscoolivaceus e sendo encontrada uma possível nova população das duas espécies na localidade.Palavras-chave: bandos, desmatamento, fragmentação, palmeiras.We present new records of occurrence for two species of endangered birds, the Yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) and the Dusky-headed Bursh-finch (Atlapetes fuscoolivaceus) from the Cabrera River basin, northwest of the Department of Huila in Colombia. We also describe some observations about their behavior, habitat and their threats identified in that location. The species were found in a landscape of sub-Andean and Andean forests, between 1500 and 2600 m of altitude, thus expanding the area of distribution of A. fuscoolivaceus and finding a possible new population of both species in the locality.Keywords: flocks; deforestation; fragmentation; palm trees

Exploration of the level of knowledge on organic and food security of adolescent, young and adult students of a public school in Palmas-TO

The study analyzes the knowledge and consumption of organic foods and the un-derstanding on the concept of food security of 60 regular elementary school students and 46 students of the youth and adult education (YAE) from a public school in Palmas, Tocantins State. From a qualitative-quantitative and exploratory approach, this study used as a methodo-logical data collection instrument a semi-structured questionnaire with five questions, applied to regular elementary and high school students. The answers given to the questions were cat-egorized in percentages and analyzed by the techniques of statistical and content analyses. Among other results, the research verified the lack of knowledge of these students regarding this subject. Given this, school must develop strategies and effective practical actions, not just theoretical ones, able to encourage the adherence of healthier food choices to students. It is concluded that it is essential to emphasize the theme of healthy eating in science teaching

Ensino-aprendizagem de embriologia na visão de estudantes de licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas de uma universidade pública brasileira

Este estudo objetivou relatar a opinião de estudantes de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas de uma universidade pública brasileira acerca do ensino-aprendizagem de Embriologia no Ensino Médio e no Ensino Remoto Emergencial (ERE) em decorrência da pandemia da COVID-19. A partir dos relatos dos estudantes, constatou-se que o ensino-aprendizagem dos estudantes, tanto no Ensino Médio quanto no ERE, apresentou algumas problemáticas, como a falta de infraestrutura, tempo de aula, recursos didáticos adotados e ausência de aulas práticas. Dessa forma, recomenda-se que os professores adotem novas metodologias e usem recursos didáticos alternativos para o ensino de Embriologia, o que facilitará o ensino-aprendizagem dessa área do conhecimento, tanto no Ensino Médio quanto no Ensino Superior.This study aimed to report the opinion of Biological Sciences Licentiate students from a Brazilian public university about the teaching-learning of Embryology in High School and Emergency Remote Teaching (ERE) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the students' reports, it was found that the teaching and learning of students, both in High School and in the ERE, presented some problems, such as lack of infrastructure, class time, didactic resources adopted, and absence of practical classes. Thus, it is recommended that teachers adopt new methodologies and use alternative teaching resources, which will facilitate the teaching-learning of this area of knowledge, both in High School and at the Graduation level.Este estudio tuvo como objetivo informar la opinión de estudiantes de Licenciatura en Ciencias Biológicas de una universidad pública brasileña sobre la enseñanza- y el aprendizaje de Embriología en la educación secundaria y a distancia de emergencia (ERE) como resultado de la pandemia de COVID-19. A partir de los relatos de los alumnos, se constató que la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de los alumnos, tanto de Bachillerato como de la ERE, presentaban algunos problemas, como falta de infraestructura, tiempo de clase, recursos didácticos adoptados y ausencia de clases prácticas. Así, se recomienda que los docentes adopten nuevas metodologías y utilicen recursos didácticos alternativos para la enseñanza de la Embriología, que facilitarán la enseñanza- y el aprendizaje de esta área del conocimiento, tanto en la Educación Secundaria como en la Educación Superior

Lipolytic Enzymes with Hydrolytic and Esterification Activities Produced by Filamentous Fungi Isolated from Decomposition Leaves in an Aquatic Environment

Microbial lipases are prominent biocatalysts able to catalyze a wide variety of reactions in aqueous and nonaqueous media. In this work, filamentous fungi isolated from leaves decomposed in an aquatic environment were screened for lipase production with hydrolytic activity and esterification. Agar plates with Tween 20 and Rhodamine B were used for selection, while submerged cultures with olive oil were subsequently used to select 38 filamentous fungi. Trichoderma harzianum, Fusarium solani, Trichoderma harzianum F5, and Penicillium sp. F36 were grown in six different culture media. F. solani presented the highest lipase production (2.37 U/mL) with esterification activity of 0.07 U/mL using medium composed of (g.L-1) KH2PO4 1.00, MgSO4 H2O 1.123, and CuSO4 0.06. Supplementation of this culture medium with organic nitrogen sources increased lipase production by 461.3% using tryptone and by 419.4% using yeast extract. Among the vegetable oils from the Amazon region, degummed cotton oil induced lipase production up to 8.14 U/mL. The lipase produced by F. solani F61 has great potential to application in conventional processes and biodiesel production by transesterification of vegetable oils, as well as food industries in the production of fatty acid esters by hydrolysis and esterification. © 2019 D. B. Mendes et al